Hunt for missing Australian Alison Raspa in Whistler, Canada abandoned by mounties

The search for a young West Australian woman who went missing in a Canadian ski resort town has been called off after it emerged she texted friends on the night of her disappearance saying she was lost.

She disappeared after speaking with a friend in the "Village Stroll" pedestrian area of the town.

Investigators with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police believe she may have caught a bus to an area near Highway 99 and Lake Placid Road, then walked west toward Alpha Lake, about five kilometres from the bar and town centre.

"At approximately 1:15am, Ms. Raspa texted some of her friends to confirm she was lost," Staff Sergeant Paul Hayes from the RCMP said in a statement.